The present invention relates generally to the field of communication software, and more particularly to correlating instant messaging conversations to e-mail communications.
Communication software provides remote access to systems and exchange files and messages in text, audio and/or video formats between different computers and/or users. Communication software includes application programs, operating system components, and firmware that form part of a communication system. Typical application programs associated with a communication software include a web browser, mail user agent (MUA), chat, and instant messaging.
An email client, email reader or a mail user agent (MUA) is a computer program used to access and manage email of a user. E-mail allows the exchange of digital messages across the Internet or other computer networks via the server facility of an e-mail provider from an author to one or more recipients. An e-mail thread is an e-mail message that includes a running list of all the succeeding replies station with the original message. When sending an e-mail, the MUA formats the message and uses the submission protocol, to send the message to the local mail submission agent (MSA) that in turn determines the destination address provided in the SMTP protocol and the e-mail address of the recipient. The MSA resolves the domain name to determine the domain name system (DNS), which specifies a mail server responsible for accepting e-mail messages on behalf of the domain of the recipient such as a message transfer agent (MTA). The e-mail passes to the message delivery agent (MDA) which delivers the e-mail to the e-mail box (e.g., mailbox) which stores the e-mail. Once in the e-mail box, the e-mail is available to the user when the user is online. While online, the user can view, organize, and respond to e-mails based on fields and information within the message header (e.g., sender, recipients, subject, time and date of the e-mail, and the message size) and content within the message body.
Instant messaging (IM) programs are a type of online chat that offers real-time text transmission over the Internet between two or more participants. Instant messaging programs facilitate connections between specified known users using a contact list (e.g., buddy list, friend list, contacts, etc.). In general the instant messaging program connects to the server utilizing a proprietary protocol for communication when the user is online (e.g., active, logged in, etc.) The instant messaging program sends the server the assigned connection information, an internet protocol (IP) address and port number associated with the computing device, and the contact list. The server determines connection information (e.g., IP address and port number) for individuals within the contact list and identifies an associated status (e.g., online, offline, etc.). A user of the instant messaging program is then able to initiate a message by selecting an online recipient, typing the message, and selecting send. The instant messaging program directly sends the message to the IP address and port number of the recipient and then sends and receives messages directly between the participants. The instant messaging program maintains a history of the messages (e.g., conversation) that can be reviewed during or after the conversation messaging conversation ends, as the instant messaging program stores the messages in a local message history, similarly to e-mails.